JC Chasez, John Lyndon, Michelle Williams & Brandon Boyd
News just came out that a star-studed national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar will kick-off June 9. I'm always a little weary of any pop celebrities in Broadway shows. The fact that this tour has not one but four pop star singers does make me think it probably will be a disappointment. HOWEVER, Jesus Christ Superstar is one of my favorite shows of all time... maybe even my favorite, so I'm going to have to see this tour even if it's just to complain about it.
The tour will star lead singer of the Sex Pistols John Lyndon aka Johnny Rotten as Herod, Incubus lead singer Brandon Boyd as Judas, NSYNC's JC Chasez as Pontius Pilot, and Michelle Williams as Mary Magdalane. Jesus will apparently be played by Ben Forster, the winner of a UK TV reality series to find the next Jesus called "Superstar".
Am I the only one who is more impressed with the fact that there was a JC Superstar tryout reality show than about a bunch of washed up pop starts being in the tour?? I want to watch Superstar! How can I find it in the US??? It was either really bad if there was a bunch of crappy pop American idol types trying out or awesome because there were real rock singers from bands trying out. I guess I'll have to figure out how to watch the show to find out.
Boyd and Williams were on Good Morning America this morning to announce the tour and sing the title song. I have to say I'm pretty impressed with Boyd's performance, he has the perfect voice for Judas and I'm excited to see him on stage. Williams looks like she might break apart from being malnourished but I'm sure she'll do a decent job, she does have a good voice. The 12-year old inside me is actually really excited to see JC, because he was my favorite! I still think he's really sexy, hopefully he doesn't suck. I really don't know what to think about Johnny Rotten playing Herod, if he still has energy and his voice is still there it might be awesome, but he's pretty old now.
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera based very loosely on the Gospel's account of the last week of Jesus' life. It highlights political and interpersonal struggles between Judas Iscariot and Jesus, struggles that are not in the Bible. The show began life as a record-breaking album in 1970 before it landed on Broadway in 1971. It was subsequently revived on Broadway in 1977, 2000 and 2012. I saw the 2012 performance and thought Judas and Jesus were amazing! It will be hard to top them.
Someone uploaded a video of the entire 2012 Broadway production that they must have secretly taped. It's actually decent quality. If you have some time to spare check it out. And thank you to whoever took this video!
Every once in a while a broadway show opens that I have to see ASAP no matter what I have to pay... If/Then was one of those shows! I've been excited about this since I first read about it last summer. Well I didn't waste any time and got tickets for the first Saturday night performance of previews.
First of all I think Idina Menzel is one of the most talented broadway performers out there. She could be in the most boring show and I would still be impressed. Then there's Anthony Rapp... one of my absolute favorite broadway performers of all time! I have a thing for nerdy guys and when you combine his nerdy appearance with his amazing voice and his terrible but cute dance moves you've basically made my perfect man (yes yes I know he's gay, but I can still admire him). To add to the Rent alumni list Michael Greif, former director of Rent, is also directing If/Then.
I have to admit that after Adele Nazeem... I mean Idina's performance at the Oscar's a couple weeks ago I was a little worried that her voice might be fading. That is 100% not true, she was as funny, inspiring and sassy as she was almost 2 decades ago when she began in Rent and her voice was so strong! I actually remember her belting out this giant note at the end of a song that felt like it blew me back in my seat. The note went on for so long I could feel the whole audience gaping in silent admiration. Of course the audience exploded for her after. I'm a sucker for those moments in shows. Idina has still got it!
LaChanze playing Kate and Anthony Rapp playing Lucas
Idina's role in this show is supposedly similar to what is happening in her personal life right now. (Her and Taye Diggs recently split after 10 years of marriage. I know... so sad! I always liked to think they were the perfect super talented couple.) Idina plays Elizabeth, a recently divorced woman in her late 30's who just moved back to NYC to start her life over again. When she gets there she meets up with her bi roommate from college Lucas (Anthony Rapp) and makes friends with her apartment neighbor Kate (LaChanze). Throughout the show you see how choices that Elizabeth makes change her life.
The theme of the show is a brilliant idea. Everyday we make decisions and each one leads our life in a different direction, sometimes in small ways sometimes in big ways. You don't think about how something as small as choosing to go out to bar with a new friend or something as big as choosing to switch jobs can change the entire course of your life. You don't think about it because it would drive you insane, but it was still interesting as a story theme.
Oh and by the way one of Elizabeth's "life paths" has a lot to do with a very sexy man, the character Josh played by James Snyder. I love Anthony Rapp but I found myself drooling over James throughout the show!
Idina Menzel as Elizabeth and James Snyder as Josh
If/Then is a musical by the Next to Normal creators Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey. The music was definitely similar, I found myself singing Next to Normal songs during intermission and then remembering it was by the same talented duo. My favorite song was "What the fuck?" haha not only was it awesomely funny it presented a situation that I think everyone can relate to. That moment when you've gone further than you planned and you're saying to yourself "what the fuck am I doing???" And you decide to just go for it. I've been in that situation and the next morning you're either really excited that this might turn into something great or really beating yourself up because you know you shouldn't have done that. It's the same for Elizabeth in the show.
Overall I really liked If/Then, although if not for the presence of Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp I don't think it would have the same appeal. I liked the story of If/Then but the deep emotion of Next to Normal just wasn't there. Nor was the cool personality and catchy songs of Rent. In fact other than "What the fuck" I actually have a hard time remembering any of the other songs... I didn't dislike any of them but none of the other songs had that "stick in your head, I have to download this song!" presence. I plan to see it again once the popularity dies down a bit in a few months to see how I feel about it the second time. For right now I don't think it would be in my top 5 shows (which Rent and Next Normal are in!).
True to its Rent origins If/Then has a lottery for tickets. It comes as no surprise that the lottery has been insanely crowded since it began. I was happy to shell out the $75 it cost me for rear mezzanine tickets so that I didn't have to go through the crazy lottery just to probably not win tickets at the end. But if you have more patience and optimism than me and would like to try the lottery, names are pulled 90 minutes before every showtime and tickets are $25 cash only.
After the show I waited stage door to get autographs (which I don't do for very many shows I see), the crowd was insane! But I did get my playbill signed by Idina and Anthony and got a couple pictures, although they weren't very good thanks to me being so short.
Idina signing autographs after If/Then
PS - I'm absolutely in love with the cover photo of Idina Menzel on Billboard today! She looks beautiful I can only pray that when I'm in my 40s I look as amazing as she does and my life is half as inspiring. Enjoy the video of her photo shoot below!
If/Then is playing at the Richard Rogers Theatre on 46th (between 7th & 8th). It is currently in previews and officially opens on Thursday, March 27th.
Being from upstate NY, I usually find it hilarious how much people in the city freak out over a few inches of snow. However, one awesome thing that always comes out of snow storms in the city is the Broadway show discounts that come out of it!
During the past 7 years that I've lived in and around NYC I've only seen Broadway close once and that was for Sandy. Since I was trapped in my Hoboken apartment by floods I agreed with that decision. I trudged through the snow and made it into the city for work today though which means I will of course be taking advantage of one of the great deals and seeing a show tonight. Who cares if it's gonna be 2 degrees, right?!?
Here are the discounts so far. I'll update this throughout the day if more are announced:
A Night with Janis Joplin: offering a "snow day discounts" for performances Jan. 2-4. Tickets start at $32 by using code JJSNOW an can be purchased at the box office or online.
Machinal (new musical from Roundabout Theatre Company): offering $20 tickets when you show your metro card at the box office only.
DISASTER!: (disaster movie musical comedy now playing Off-Broadway at the St. Luke's Theatre): offering a one-day-only "Snow Day" discount on Friday, January 3rd. Tickets for $30.00 will be available in-person at the box office only by using the code DISNOW for the matinee (2:30PM) and evening performances (8:00PM).
Outside Mullingar (First preview of new play from Manhattan Theatre Club at the Friedman Theatre): All tickets for the performance tonight only will be available for $50 by using code OMSNW14 or coming to the Friedman box office.
After Midnight: Offering 50% off any ticket with the mention of SNOW at the box office for today's 2pm & 8pm shows.
Motown the Musical: announced on Facebook that they are offering $49 tickets at the box office today with the code SNOW.
...And of course there's also all the shows that have rushes and lotteries that should have plenty of tickets available today from cancellations. See the updated list here.
If you're planning to get last minute tickets to a show for Halloween tonight I can't think of a show that would fit the theme better than Murder for Two. The spoof musical is playing right now at New World Stages, they might even have rush tickets available for tonight, since I know they usually have rush for Avenue Q and Peter and the Starcatcher.
I saw Murder back when it was playing at the Second Stage Uptown theater. I didn't know very much about it going in and ended up having an amazing time watching it. The show is hilarious from the very beginning and extremely clever.
Brett Ryback and Jeff Blumenkrantz
The two person show features Brett Ryback as a police officer investigating a murder and Jeff Blumenkrantz as all of the suspects. It's amazing how full the stage feels with only these two on it. Not only do they portray over a dozen characters they also provide their own orchestra music by taking turns playing the piano together and apart throughout the show.
I loved them both! Brett is extremely cute in this show, you can't help but enjoy his performance and laugh at all of his lines. Jeff is an outright physical theater genius. He's able to portray a dozen different characters in the span of 90 minutes and somehow make each one distinct and memorable. Jeff's switch to a new character is usually indicated by a small prop or hat he puts on but even without those props Jeff does an amazing job of changing his physical pose and voice to nail each character. I especially loved his portrayal of a group of 9 year old boys in which he constantly switches back and forth from boy to boy while on his knees. I also loved his portrayal of Steph, an annoying and overwhelming college girl who has a crush on the police officer.
There was nothing about this show I didn't like. If you're looking for a reasonably priced show where you can have a good time, laugh a lot and see some amazing acting skills check this out. It's currently in previews at New World Stages with an official opening date of November 6th and a closing date of January 5th.
Oh and also, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (I couldn't resist sharing the piggies!)
After seeing this play I had to watch the movie at home the next day to make sure that I still actually liked it and that it was nothing like the boring, flat show I just saw on stage. To my relief, I do still love the movie, it has a charm to it that was somehow completely left out of the show.
The Broadway play adaption of Breakfast At Tiffany's is intentionally different from the movie. Writer, Richard Greenberg sought to base the play more closely on Truman Capote's 1958 novella than the movie had been. Apparently some of the dialogue has even been directly lifted from the book. This may explain why the play seemed so lifeless... There's a reason movie and play versions of books often have their own twists. Each is a different form of art and to be strong in each the story must be adapted for each. A book can't simply be put into screenplay format and be called a Broadway show.
The story in the play adds in a lot of random gay themes that are not included in the movie. This would be fine if they weren't randomly and completely nonchalantly mentioned. In the 1940s being gay was a big deal! I'm not sure why no one in this play acted like it.
The lead character, Holly Golightly is played by Emilia Clarke of HBO's Game of Thrones. I don't watch Game of Thrones so I didn't know who she was before seeing the show and the play has certainly not made me a fan now. Granted, it's extremely difficult to take a role iconically played by Audrey Hepburn and expect to be remembered or even praised for it. I give her credit for trying and thought she was decent. Although, her over the top voice for every word that came out of her mouth ended up hurting her performance. I get what she was going for but her voice just made it seem like she had no real emotions and kept me from establishing any kind of connection to her character.
The male lead, Fred, is played by Cory Michael Smith. As someone who had my expectations for Fred formed from the movie, I was extremely disappointed with his portrayal of the character. Instead of the handsome, confident yet sweet character from the movie, who I thought was quite a heart throb, Fred is a whiney, pathetic weirdo who becomes obsessed with Holly after meeting her once. Cory tries to put feeling into the part but ends up falling short, he also starts the play with an accent that randomly starts and stops throughout.
The biggest reaction from the audience during the show is not from the actors or the lines, but from a real cat that comes on stage to play Holly's cat. It really serves no purpose and just caused a lot of "awwww" from everyone in the audience before the cat terrifyingly runs off stage because it probably has no idea what's going on. I suppose when a show is as bad as this one throwing in a real cat can't make it worse, but it definitely didn't make it better either.
Oh and one more thing... for some reason in the middle of the play Emilia and Cory get naked in a bath tub. The moment is about as unemotional as they come, except for maybe the awkward feeling the audience has as they wonder why they're naked.
Luckily I only payed $32 for this play by doing general rush. If you're curious I would make sure you get very cheap tickets, it's definitely not worth full price. You could probably see the second act for free if you walk in during intermission, since many of the people at the show I saw left during intermission.
Last weekend my best broadway friend Jen came to visit so of course we had to fit in as many shows as we could! We ended up getting tickets to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Two very different plays that both had celebrities. I'm writing my review of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof first since there are only 3 performances left until it closes tomorrow Saturday 3/30!!
This revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is Scarlett Johansson's second time on Broadway after winning a TONY for her Broadway debut in a A View From the Bridge. I don't think this performance was amazing enough to earn Scarlett her second TONY but I thought she was pretty good.
This was my first time seeing Cat so I had no expectations for how the role of Maggie should be played. Scarlett definitely got the catty part of Maggie right, throughout most of the play she left me siding with her husband, Brick, played by Benjamin Walker. There were a few times during the play when I did feel sympathy for Maggie but most of the time her weirdly manly sounding southern accent along with the distant self-righteous attitude she gave off left me she thinking she was a bitch that made her bed and now needed to sleep in it.
Scarlett Johansson as Maggie and Benjamin Walker as Brick
Benjamin Walker gave a good performance as Brick, although after a while his fake southern accent started getting on my nerves as well. He portrayed Brick's anger scenes with rage that seemed real and unrestrained. The rage, which was usually caused by Maggie's mention of his dead best friend Skipper who was hinted to have been more of a gay love, seemed to have real emotions behind it.
I'm glad I caught Cat on a Hot Tin Roof before the closing date. As I always say, my favorite plays are the ones that leave you thinking afterwards. Cat definitely lived up to this standard with its reoccurring them of "mendacity," Brick uses the word to discuss his disgust with all of the lies and liars in his life. It makes you think about the fact that a lot of everyone's lives are fake. How many relationships that we have in our own lives are full of lies? However, the further you get into the play the more you realize that part of Brick's disgust with the lies and fakeness he sees in other people is the disgust he feels for himself after rejecting his best friend/gay love interest Skipper before his suicide.
If you have no plan for the Easter weekend I would definitely try to catch Cat on a Hot Tin Roof before it closes. If you have a student ID the show has a student rush that begins 2 hours before the show starts. However, the tickets will probably be slim pickins this weekend so I would get there early.
That's right, Les Miz is planning another Broadway revival in March 2014. To everyone out there who saw the movie this winter and all of a sudden became a die-hard Les Miz fan, you're in luck! This will be the second Broadway revival of Les Miz. The first was in 2006, which was my first time seeing the show when I was a freshman in college. This new revival of the show will take a fresh approach to the classic musical with new scenic elements and even some updated orchestrations. Producer Cameron Macintosh has said that the "re-imagined" scenery is inspired by paintings of Victor Hugo (the author of the 19th century Les Miserables novel). The production has already been performed in the U.K. and the U.S. in a tour that is also slated to open in Japan, Canada, Australia and Brazil in the near future. The original London production of Les Miz is the longest running musical of all time, still running after 27 years! To date, it is the fourth longest-running Broadway show (beat by Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Chicago). Truth be told I've always liked the classic Les Miz songs (On My Own, At The End of the Day, Bring Him Home, Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, etc.) but I found the Broadway revival in 2006 to be a snooze-fest. Apart from the famous songs the rest of the show was pretty boring. For that reason I was skeptical of the movie when it came out, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it! My favorite performances were by Anne Hathaway (Of course! Who didn't love her??), who gave the most emotionally intense rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" that I have ever encountered, Aaron Tveit, who I've been a huge fan of since Next to Normal, and Samantha Barks, who's subtle performance of "On My Own" was extremely refreshing after hearing the song over sung by so many Broadway wanna-bes (including those from my high school choir) that it's almost ruined the song for me.
I don't know if this revival will be much more exciting overall than the last was but I'll definitely give it a chance, that is if the popularity of the movie doesn't cause the prices to sky rocket.
